The financial press won't have Ken Lewis to kick around for much longer.
Bank of America's (NYSE:BAC) CEO announced that he will step down at the end of the year.
Lewis is a controversial figure. Because Bank of America was one of the bailout's neediest recipients, critics point to its risk-stretching acquisitions. However, Bank of America, Citigroup (NYSE:C), and many of the other "too big to fail" banks that were on the brink of collapse have apparently made it through the storm.
Shareholders apparently think so. The stock price has risen roughly sixfold since bottoming out at $2.53 in February. It's not every day when shares demonstrate that kind of gain and investors still cheer a CEO's departure.
Briefly in the news
And now let's take a quick look at some of the other stories that shaped our week.
- Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) officially introduced its VIA instant coffee packets. Is this a new revenue stream, or more pain for its flagship in-store business?
- Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) isn't on the hook for government bailouts, but at least it's sensitive to executive compensation. Key executives -- including CEO Steve Ballmer -- will be making less this year than they did in 2008.
- Newegg.com is going public. The consumer electronics retailer is bigger than you think, scoring $2.1 billion in retail revenue last year.
- It has been more than a year since TiVo (NASDAQ:TIVO) announced a DVD queuing application for Research In Motion's (NASDAQ:RIMM) BlackBerry phones. It finally became available this week. No, it won't stream your TiVo box remotely. Don't get greedy, BlackBerry fans.
Until next week, I remain,
Rick Munarriz
